


The Maiden Gunslinger From Cool Ranch

by KizaPixieDust



Category: Pirate101 (Video Game)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:23:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21975754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KizaPixieDust/pseuds/KizaPixieDust
Summary: Betsy lived a decent life in Cool Ranch, but when the Armada threatens the freedom of Cool Ranch, she and her friends decide to take fate into their hands and defend their home.





	The Maiden Gunslinger From Cool Ranch

Betsy since a young had lived with her aunt and uncle. For a long time, her parents would only stay for a few days and then leave for weeks and months. The blonde child was starting to become distant from her parents. Where did they go all day? Did they care at all? They seem to be affectionate when they're home, but them disappearing for months at a time seemed to speak louder to her. 

She thought these questions more and more the longer they were away, but she'd sometimes be distracted by chores her aunt assigned her. She'd also be distracted by school, but it was summer so she had more free time to think about it all. Her guardians would commonly assign her yard work and chores if she completed all the garden work. It was rare when she didn't have something to do. 

Today though, her aunt and uncle seemed busy talking to each other. She wasn't assigned anything that day. No note about taking care of the corn or anything. After discovering she didn't seem to have anything to do that day, she stared out through the window for a couple of minutes. After staring out at the garden outside, she went to see if her aunt and uncle were inside. 

While searching next to the guest bedroom, she saw something on the bed. She went inside and found a dagger. The handle looked golden and the blade looked like it was brand new. She went and put it down, not wanting to get in trouble.

She eventually caught her aunt and uncle talking in the kitchen. Aunt Claire was in tears and the child ran up to her, completely interrupting their conversation.

"Claire, what's wrong?" The little girl hugged her aunt's legs. The brown-haired woman looked down at her niece and bent down. 

"There's something important ye need to know sweetie..." the woman spoke. She hesitated to speak as she fiddled with the little girl's bow. She only stopped to wipe her face from more oncoming tears. Betsy looked up at her uncle, who was sighing. He bent down and grabbed her shoulders.

"Let's talk about this outside." Uncle Wyatt whispered and grabbed her hand. She focused on her aunt one more time and saw her finally get up to walk upstairs.

The front yard seemed to be covered in sand to her, unlike the back that flourished with plants of many kinds. The orange sandy ground contrasted with the blue and purple sky. Her uncle picked her up and sat her on a chair on the porch. She watched Wyatt pull a chair beside her and sit down in it. When he finally sat down, he began talking.

"Sweetie, ye know how yer parents are supposed to come back soon, right?" The little girl nodded as she rocked her chair. Wyatt scratched his head. A feather or two fell out of his head as he scratched. "We need to be honest with ye. Yer parents aren't coming back."

"W-What?" The girl tightly held her skirt as she waited for her uncle to continue. Why were her parents not coming back? Didn't they care? Her uncle and aunt would always reassure her of that whenever Betsy voiced her struggle with them. Her parents were always nice to her when they were home. Why did they change all of a sudden? Did they not even care? Before Betsy could say another word, Wyatt continued talking.

"It was reported that yer parent's ship was destroyed by a giant squid. They didn't survive." 

"Survive? Ye mean?.." She refused to finish it herself. The ending sounded so dumbfounding, she wanted a better answer.

"They died. I'm so sorry dear." He laid a wing on her shoulder. She just stared at him as she processed the information in her head. She heard about death all the time at school, but she hasn't experienced it personally. Classmates would talk about it, teachers would talk about it, and they even read works that dealt with death. But she never experienced anything like it in her personal life. She continued thinking as Wyatt got up. "I need to comfort Claire, please come in if ye need something."

She nodded as the adult then walked inside and left her outside. The little girl looked away from the door and looked at the world around her. There have been times where she'd wait near a window and wait for her parents to come. Is she never going to experience that again? A more important question, shouldn't this be more upsetting? Everything felt so distant at the moment.

A couple of weeks later, they attended their funeral. The funeral costs caused the family to become broke. This caused her aunt and uncle to work more than just the farm. Not only that, but she's heard strange conversations from them. They're considering bringing her to work as well. With all of this, she was only glad that school was back. She would start sixth grade. It may have not been much, but she was so close to finishing school.

She showed up in her typical pink clothes with her pink bonnet rather than a pink bow. Her blonde hair stood out among the other students, mostly because the majority of her classmates weren't human. While she was walking to class, she felt someone grab her arm. She looked to see a tall boy. Before the boy could do anything else, she turned and kicked him in the stomach. He let her go and stumbled back while holding his stomach. She started to sprint to a corner of the room, but she bumped into someone. She looked up to see a taller girl, who was a human as well. The girl didn’t seem to be focused on her though, despite bumping into her.

"What in Tarnation are yer doing?" The girl shouted. She walked past Betsy and confronted the boy. Betsy tried to get to her seat, but could barely move with the sea of children in the tiny room. Children of all ages gathered around to watch the two kids confronting each other. 

"Fight! Fight! Fight!" As the screaming continued, Betsy got on her knees and covered her ears. The shouting and hitting went on for a while until the door opened, revealing an adult woman with white feathers and green eyes. She started breaking up all the kids, trying to get the class started. Amidst all the chaos, the girl from before noticed Betsy still on the ground.

"Hey, are ye okay?" The girl whispered into her covered ear. Betsy felt her presence and looked at her. She uncovered her ears and her face became flustered. She felt embarrassed and got up. The girl only smiled at her and they walked to their respective desks. Everyone was finally settled in and the teacher could finally communicate with the class.

Despite being a year older, everything felt similar. She was in the same classroom as years before. This was the same teacher she had since she started school. Eighth-grade students helped the teachers teach as well as she's seen before. The only thing different from last year was some of the material and some new students, like that girl from before.

When school ended that day, she was approached by that girl again. She had her shoulder tapped and she was suddenly looking at the eyes of that girl again.

"I want to show ye something. Can ye come with me?" Betsy stared at her for a moment. She knew her Aunt and Uncle wouldn't be home until sunset, so she could easily go. She looked at her face. She had freckles and red curly hair in braids. She was nice before, maybe she could be trusted? She nodded and the girl took her hand. As they were walking, the redhead started talking again. "Hey, what's yer name by the way?"

"Betsy."

"My name is Charlotte!" They walked downtown until they got to the church at the end of town. Charlotte guided her to behind the church and they continued walking in the almost empty desert until they got to a group of other girls. There were mostly chickens, some with white feathers and some black, but there was also one crane and one buffalo. Betsy stared at the other girls until the older girl spoke up.

"Here's a group of my friends! We like hanging out and shooting." Betsy looked back at the redhead.

"Shooting?-" she heard clicks from the group and Charlotte pulled out a gun. The blonde's eyes were wide open. "Aren't those really bad?"

"They're for self-defense darling." She put her free hand on Betsy's shoulder as she spoke. "We can teach ye."

She gave a wink to the younger girl. Betsy put some thought into it. Her family didn't own any guns, but they never really talked about it. A part of her was really curious. Learning self-defense also couldn't hurt. She gave a nod and Charlotte dragged her to their shooting range. 

"Here, try my gun!" She was handed her pistol.

"Why do I have to use yer gun?" She looked up at the older girl.

"We don't exactly have extras lying around. We can buy a new one for ye tomorrow if you'd like." she gave a cheeky smile. Betsy smiled in return and nodded. "Now, try shooting over there."

She pointed to an empty field. Betsy moved her body towards the field and held the pistol up. She wasn't looking at anyone, but she could feel the whole group staring at her. All the attention caused her to shake intensely. Her shaking only stopped when Charlotte grabbed her hands.

"Here's how ye should be holding it." She moved the girl's fingers around the gun to demonstrate the proper technique. Once she finally let go of her hands, she suddenly felt better. It was as if her confidence boosted. "Now, pull the trigger!"

She hesitated for a moment, but she eventually did. Sparks of lightning came out of the pistol. Not expecting so much energy, she fell from the blast, along with the gun. Everyone gathered around her to see if she was okay. The freckled girl lifted her back off the ground. Betsy heavily breathed in and out, but she didn't seem upset to her.

"Did I do okay?" She smiled and giggled. They all nodded and chuckled with her.

After she finished eighth grade, Betsy had been given the news from her Aunt and Uncle. She had been told she would have to work and wouldn't be starting high school. She was fine with it though. For a while, she woke up to either work at the local cafe or she'd work in the garden. After she'd done her work, she'd hang out with her friends and practice shooting. She brought her gun everywhere she went just for her evening activities. Sometimes the only thing she could look forward to on some days was shooting with her friends.

Today though, she was being kept in work. At closing time, people started to leave, but everyone was interrupted by the two employees. 

"No! Don't leave!" They spoke in almost perfect unison. Everyone turned around to face the two. 

"Don't ye hear their gears?!" The chicken yelled. "The Armada is coming!"

"What in Tarnation are the Armada doing in Cool Ranch?" Betsy questioned and stepped towards the two. 

"They've been raiding places in Cool Ranch for days now-" The chicken screamed. He was about to speak more, but the doors flew open. The clockworks gear’s creaked as they walked. Their movement was automatic, there was no sign of life in any of their steps. There were only three there, but it was terrifying nonetheless. 

“Please surrender all weapons right now.” the leader of the group said. Even their voices sounded artificial. One by one, the men were inspected by the machines. A couple of them resisted, causing the clockworks to force them to the ground. That got Betsy’s attention and made her back away.

“You are under arrest for ownership of a firearm.” was repeated the more men were forced onto the ground. The metal men were becoming aggressive, but their movements were still robotic. Betsy bumped onto a wall and saw her apron hanging from a coat rack. She went into the pocket and found her handgun. Something in her felt compelled to fight, so she did.

“You are under arrest for ownership of a firearm.” one clockwork spoke and started walking towards her. It didn't even give a warning. She knew this was her opportunity. She aimed and shot right at the robot. The sparks caused the robot to shut down. The loud sounds of sparks and the thud of their fellow “man” alerted the other two of her.

“Fight those unliving varment ya cowards!” she shouted. The metal men ran towards her and she was barely able to dodge by running to her left. The workers who still had guns got up and tried to shoot at the metal men as well, but their attempts weren’t as successful. Only one of them was able to get one, but there was still one left chasing the teenager. 

Betsy almost tripped on a chair and barely saved herself by grabbing onto a table, but this allowed the machine to catch up to her. The clockwork aimed its sword at her head. Betsy noticed the sword and barely dodged a kill, but she was still hit. She fell to the floor after the sword slashed her face. She covered her face in pain. One of the women took the opportunity to shoot and the clockwork fell as well. The woman then ran over and helped her up. After reaching for her hand, the woman was able to see her face more clearly. she gasped in shock and quickly helped her up.

“What’s wrong?” she asked as she got to her feet.

“Darling, y-yer face.” the woman pointed towards her nose.

“Oh yeah, it got cut.” it wasn’t like she couldn’t feel the blood coming from it. The woman shook her head.

“It looks really bad, ye might get a scar.” as if by command, several others came and judged her face. Betsy wiped her face with her hand to see the blood pouring down her face. “Ye poor thing.”

“Hold on there!” a crane came running up with bandages and tended to her wound. After a couple of minutes, her face was covered in bandages. Before anyone could say anything though, she ran out the door. Once outside, she saw a whole Armada raiding the town of their weapons. The other workers came running out and shook in terror at what was happening to the town. 

Betsy ran towards the shooting range her friends would hang out at. Surprisingly, they were there, but they were more wide-eyed than usual. Charlotte was trying to calm everyone down by the time the blonde showed up. Once the redhead noticed her presence, she immediately turned around and hugged her.

“Thank goodness yer alright!” she squeezed her tight and then let go before Betsy could hug back. “Please sit down, we’re trying to wait out the attack-”

She looked at her face and paused in shock. The bloody bandages were enough indication to let her know that she was attacked.

“Are ye alright?” Betsy only nodded in response. She then went ahead and sat down.

They waited for a couple of hours, waiting to see if any of the clockworks would come. Luckily, never any came. The only thing they had to endure was the hot blazing sun. For a while, they could handle it, but soon laying down became painful. The sand felt like fire. They got so hot that they decided to check the town. The hot sand seemed a lot more annoying now, even though they were all wearing shoes. The heat from the ground transferring to their feet felt like walking on hot coals.

The town seemed to be finally free of the Armada. They all sighed of relief and walked to the cafe Betsy worked at. They've already been there a few times and they knew it would be a good place to cool off and talk. They sat at a table in the empty building and talked.

"We have to do something." Charlotte banged her fists on the table.

"About the Armada? Are ye insane?" One of her friends said. "We could be killed!"

"Charlotte, do we even know why they're here?" Another one peeped. 

"Obviously not, but we have to do something! Cool Ranch's weapons are being taken away right before our very eyes!" Her long braids jumped as she pounded the table again. "Have you heard what they did to Adsila's village?"

They all turned to look at the bison of the group. She sighed.

"I want to make those unliving men pay." Was all she said. They could make their assumptions on what the Armada did.

"Same here. Who's with me?" Charlotte put her hand on the table, signifying what she wants her friends to do. Adsila put her hand down first. A couple of others joined, but others didn't. Betsy didn't put her hand down, but they could all tell that she was thinking about it deeply. 

She had already almost met death. She even met death twice. This could very well be a suicide mission. She touched her bandages in thought. Her Aunt and Uncle shouldn't lose the only thing reminding them of what they've lost. But this was important to her. Sometimes she only felt confidence in her shot and now it was being taken away. She tried imagining her current life without them, but she couldn't. After a while, she finally put her hand down.

Charlotte had the idea to put everyone who agreed to help into boxes and give them to the Armada under the pretense that they were filled with weapons the citizens had given up. This working without any suspicion was the biggest stroke of luck they had all day. Once they were inside and alone, they got out of the boxes. They quickly went over their plan on smuggling the weapons and then split off to different parts of the ship.

Betsy found herself in some kind of Captain's Quarters. Lucky for her, it was empty for now. The room seemed to be covered in gears and clockwork parts, with even some oil on pillows and such. There was a typical desk in the middle near a window that showed the sky. She investigated the room and it wasn't long until she found a box full of guns. She started shoving them into a bag she brought with her. Right as she gathered them all up, she heard the door open.

"Identify yourself immediately." The clockwork had more fancy clothes than the ones she fought back home, with having more golden accents on its coat and its mask. She just decided to shoot it, but the robot didn't go down. The robot had sparks of electricity fly off for a moment, but it seemed to only stun it for a second. "You are under arrest for trespassing, smuggling firearms, and attack of a commander officer."

The officer shot at her, but she dodged it. The officer put his pistol down. He took out a sword and followed her, leaving the door unguarded. She dodged a swing of his sword and tried to bolt for the door. As she stepped on the exit, she suddenly felt a bolt of electricity shock her. The clockwork had shot her. She grabbed the door frame as her legs gave out. She felt so much pain in her body at that moment, she felt like she could completely fall to the floor. This wasn't the first time she's been shot, but it didn't make being electrified not painful at all.

She heard the metal of the machine creak as it stepped closer. It took all of her strength not to fall over, but that strength was welding. Right as the clockwork stood over her, she took what strength she had left and pulled out a dagger. She grabbed onto the robot's throat, causing both of them to crash to the ground. She brought her dagger and stabbed the metalman several times until it stopped moving. She got off the robot and waited for her legs to not be numb. 

When she could finally get up again, she started walking back to where they started. By then, everyone was back waiting for her. 

“Come on, let’s go!” one of them grabbed her and dragged her as she ran. They planned to run to the deck and locate a boat Charlotte would be on and jump on, but soon some clockworks were on their tail. They tried leaving to the top of the ship, but Betsy was captured. She screamed, causing the others to turn back. Despite everything, Betsy used what little freedom she had to toss her load to the others and signaled them to leave. Adsila grabbed the bag and hesitated to leave, but the unliving men approaching her convinced her to leave Betsy behind. 

Betsy wouldn’t be coming home for a while.

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally a contest entry into a contest I participated in the Pirate101 amino. I have it edited a little bit, but it's basically the same.


End file.
